Alcoholics Anonymous, Fourth Edition

PREFACE

THIS IS the fourth edition of the book "Alcoholics
Anonymous." The first edition appeared in April
1939, and in the following sixteen years, more than
300,000 copies went into circulation. The second edi-
tion, published in 1955, reached a total of more than
1,150,500 copies. The third edition, which came off
press in 1976, achieved a circulation of approximately
19,550,000 in all formats.

Because this book has become the basic text for our
Society and has helped such large numbers of alco-
holic men and women to recovery, there exists strong
sentiment against any radical changes being made in it.
Therefore, the first portion of this volume, describing
the A.A. recovery program, has been left largely un-
touched in the course of revisions made for the second,
third, and fourth editions. The section called "The
Doctor's Opinion" has been kept intact, just as it was
originally written in 1939 by the late Dr. William D.
Silkworth, our Society's great medical benefactor.

The second edition added the appendices, the
Twelve Traditions, and the directions for getting in
touch with A.A. But the chief change was in the sec-
tion of personal stories, which was expanded to reflect
the Fellowship's growth. "Bill's Story," "Doctor Bob's
Nightmare," and one other personal history from the
first edition were retained intact; three were edited
and one of these was retitled; new versions of two sto-